Editorial
Student advertising required outdoors
February 21, 2008
UW-River Falls is desperately in need of space devoted to student advertising.
While media like the Student Voice and WRFW are good for promoting campus events, we can only do so much.We can’t print everything that we come in contact with; the paper is just not big enough. And there are not enough hours in the day for WRFW to talk about every single event that happens on campus and in the River Falls and surrounding communities.
There is a simple solution that can still fit into this University’s plan for campus beautification. We need advertising on campus that’s not just in one spot in the University Center.
The addition of the University Center initially seemed like a good idea. Students thought they would be able to promote their events in a bigger and better way.
Also, residence halls and classroom buildings have strict regulations on where you can post messages as well as what kinds of messages you can post. That makes it difficult to get the word out.
Those who make the announcements usually put a lot of hard work and creativity into creating them.
Community members should also be able to post information for students. If a local coffeehouse is hosting an Open Mic Night, they should be able to get the word out to this campus community.
In order for advertising to be effective, it must catch someone’s eye. If campus was to place three or four outdoor bulletin boards around campus, students would have more knowledge about what’s going on and might even want to stay around more often for the weekends.
These message boards should be placed in high-traffic locations, such as between the Ag. Sci building and Hagestad Hall, in between the University Center and KFA and somewhere on the east end of campus.
However, it seems like the desire to keep the campus pretty might be getting in the way of an idea like this being put into effect. But it shouldn’t. These boards can be designed to look nice and can be maintained to keep them from looking trashy.
UW-Eau Claire and the University of Minnesota have boards like these outside and people stop, read and become informed.
University administration frequently asks students to get involved on campus. This would be a painless yet perfect way to let people know what they can get involved in.